Wednesday March 2, 2016, Pawel Fludzinski

THEME: SWIMMING TO RIO

Husker Gary here having a swimmingly good time blogging Dr. Pawel Fludzinski's (Ph.D in Synthetic Organic Chemistry) lovely mid-week puzzle that he has synthesized for us. The first word in each of the good doctor's theme fills are the names of the strokes employed by swimmers in the Relay Medley swim event in the order in which they occur for the Team Event.

This is a very timely theme in this Olympic year and for the third straight Olympics, America's Swim Trials will be held in a facility 45 minutes from me.

If you've been following the news from Rio, swimming in the pool is far more preferable to participating in any event held in their polluted waters.

Theme Answers

17. 1985 film featuring Doc Brown and Marty McFly : BACK TO THE FUTURE - A SWIM STROKE with a good view of the ceiling OR a fabulous movie

22. Possible place for a train ticket : BREAST POCKET - A SWIM STROKE where the chest and torso do not rotate and is sometimes called the frog stroke OR where some pols are purported to live

37. Concept that small changes can have large consequences, as in theoretical time travel : BUTTERFLY EFFECT- A SWIM STROKE similar to the breaststroke but accompanied by two dolphin kicks per cycle OR an effect explained by Jeff Goldblum as he was enlightening (read hustling) Laura Dern in Jurassic Park - If a butterfly flaps its wings in Tokyo, there will be rain in Central Park

46. Improvisational music genre : FREESTYLE RAP - The final SWIM STROKE in the race which can not be any of the previous strokes and is usually the Crawl OR RAPPING by creating lyrics off the top of the RAPPER'S head. Hmmm... what rhymes with...

And the reveal

56. Olympic medley found in order at the starts of this puzzle's four other longest answers : SWIMMING STROKES 

Here are all four strokes in the order they occur in the Individual Medley. The relay event Dr. Fludzinski was referencing has to start with the backstroker in the water to avoid a collision when the previous swimmer touches the wall. 

Across 
       
1. Gin and tonic, e.g. : NOUNS - Erase DRINK and put in a part of speech

6. Outback birds : EMUS

10. "Pardon the Interruption" channel : ESPN - I'm a big fan of curmudgeon Tony Kornhesier 

14. Photographer Leibovitz : ANNIE

15. Island hoppers : SEA PLANES - I'll bet most of you know the rhyming name of this huge SEA PLANE that only flew once

19. Sesame __ : OIL

20. Julio to julio : ANO - July to July in Español

21. Potter's practice : MAGIC - Harry's forte not Doc Potter's from M*A*S*H

27. AFL partner : CIO

 28. __ Bator : ULAN - Rent an apartment in this building in ULAN BATOR for 1,650,000₮ (Mongolian Tughriks) or $810/month

29. Dude : BRO

32. How storybooks are often read : ALOUD

35. Bibliography abbr. : ET AL - Oh how I hate(d) typing bibliographies!!

36. "Nessun dorma," e.g. : ARIA - "None Shall Sleep" from Puccini's Turandot. There may be better but I've not heard them

40. Cheese with an edible rind : BRIE

41. Shakes a leg : HIES

42. White House staffers : AIDES

43. "You got it!" : YES

44. Bombard : PELT - Wisconsin cheerleaders had to take cover last year after being PELTED with snowballs from Wisconsin fans

45. Michael Caine title : SIR

51. Pastoral tribe of Kenya : MASAI - By the looks of this MASAI Jumping dance, these guys could play in the NBA

54. Sch. with a Phoenix campus : ASU 

55. "__ you nuts?" : ARE

61. Heredity sources : GENE POOLS 

62. Gala or ball : EVENT

63. Got off the ground : TEED - We'll be TEEING the ball up regularly very soon

64. Brogan or brogue : SHOE

65. Fizzy beverages : SODAS - Not thirst quenching to me

Down:

1. Big wheel : NABOB

2. Broadcast sign : ON AIR

3. Claudius, to Caligula : UNCLE - Claudius succeeded his nephew when Caligula was assassinated in 41 A.D. How 'bout that GENE POOL 

4. Suffix with peace : NIK

5. Shelve : SET ASIDE

6. Legally prohibit : ESTOP 

7. "Whatevs" : MEH 

8. Oil-rich fed. : UAE

9. 50+, e.g., on a L'Oréal tube: Abbr. : SPF - OK, here 'ya go

10. Erode : EAT AT

11. Form-fitting : SNUG

12. Meter starter? : PERI - From the Greek peri - 'about, 'around

13. Fraction of a min. : NSEC - 1 NanoSEC : 1 SEC as 1 SEC : 31.7 years

16. Light bulb unit : LUMEN - LUMENS required on a ball diamond

18. Hip about : ONTO

23. Under 90 degrees : ACUTE

24. Factory stores : OUTLETS - They don't seem cheaper to me

25. Potter's supplies : CLAYS

26. Mustard family member : KALE

29. Born partner : BRED

30. Stuffed pepper filling : RICE

31. Wild things to sow : OATS - ...and hope for a crop failure

32. First name in advice : ABBY - One of those Sioux City, IA twins

33. It may be found at the end of the line : LURE - In Julian Lim's Saturday brain buster it was clued "Fly,  commonly"

34. Big name in elevators : OTIS - OTIS made elevators common when he invented the safety brake which he demonstrated by cutting the supporting rope and only falling inches

35. Taxpayer's option : E-FILE - Got my money back within 10 days

36. Burning : AFIRE

38. South Korea's first president : RHEE - Born Yi Su‧ng-man and westernized his name to Syngman RHEE

39. Learning opportunities for many : FAILURES - How do telemarketers keep going?

44. Do the do just so : PRIMP

45. Betting aid: Abbr. : SYST

46. Renowned : FAMED

47. Café cup : TASSE

48. Did a fall chore : RAKED - All for naught!

49. Venue that often sells its naming rights : ARENA - Those swim trials are held in the Century Link ARENA in Omaha

50. Kid brothers or sisters, at times : PESTS

51. High-ranking NCO : MSGT - Most critics said MSGT Bilko should have been left to Phil Silvers

52. __ bit: slightly : A WEE

53. Trig ratio : SINE

57. Apple mobile platform : IOS

58. Japanese drama : NOH - Japanese for "skill" or "talent". Yeah, I knew that...

59. Shine, in brand names : GLO

60. Ab __: from day one : OVO - Didn't see until perps filled it in. You can't get more day one than OVO (egg)

Okay, let's hear some freestyle comments from you but please stay in your own lane!

GRID

Wednesday, September 9, 2015, Pawel Fludzinski and Amy E. Hamilton

Theme: It's another Wednesday, By Cracky!   We are presented with beautifully common two-word phrases, beginning coincidentally with B and C.  Is this a bold concept?  

20 A. *Competition won by a knockout? : BEAUTY CONTEST.  I have to admit I love this brilliant clue.  In one sense, a knockout is physically incapacitating one's opponent in a combat sport.  in another it's lady of beguiling charm.

But why chose?

36 A. *Certain cutlet : BONELESS CHICKEN.  As the name suggests, this is a cut of chicken with the bones removed.

Or so we are led to believe

53 A. *Nonviolent revolution : BLOODLESS COUP.   A Coup [d'état] is the sudden overthrow of a government, usually by a group of insiders.  It's bloodless if done by non-violent means.

You never know what gifts Mr. Google will provide

4 D. *Dressing with Buffalo wings : BLUE CHEESE.  Blessedly cool to balance/contrast the heat of buffalo chicken.

Also serving Buffalo Calimari

31 D. *Arm-strengthening reps : BICEP CURLS.  The barbell is curled upward from waist level to the chest.

Big contraction

And the unifier -- 66 A. Recently retired NCAA football ranking system, and, as a plural, a hint to the answers to starred clues : BCS.    Acronym Finder lists 106 various things, from Bar Code Scanner to Bangladesh Civil Service that might be indicated by the abbreviation BCS.    But, with the beginning of football season we have the somewhat more topical BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES. This was a system in place from 1998 through 2013 that used 5 Bowl games involving 10 of the top rated college football teams in a vain attempt to define a national champion.   Whether this was worth doing is a topic I'll let remain undiscussed.

Hi Gang, JazzBumpa here - though with symphony season back in session perhaps I should be Classical Bumpa, at least for today.  [Wait - that's backwards.  Oh, well.] At any rate, we have five long horizontal and vertical two-word theme answers, one a grid spanner, with the initials B and C.  We needn't go back to Old Testament times, nor will our excursion take us to British Columbia, Boston College, nor Baja California.   Let's see if we can blithely conquer this puzzle, before conceding.

Across:

1. "Hardball" station : MSNBC.   Chris Matthews hosts this politically oriented program.  'Nuff said.

6. McCain's org. : GOP.   John and the Grand Old Party.  'Nuff said.

9. Mardi Gras mementos : BEADS.  Mardi Gras will land on Feb 9 in 2016.  Are you ready?

I guess there is some sort of tradition about earning them

14. São __, Brazil : PAULO.  The most populous city in Brazil, the Americas, the Western Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere.  It's named for Saul of Tarsus, who became St. Paul.

15. Body spray brand : AXE.

Body Conjured?

16. Baseball Hall of Famer Murray or Mathews : EDDIE.    Steady Eddie Murray was a first baseman and designated hitter for the Baltimore Orioles, 1977-1988. He played until 1997 for several more teams.  Eddie Matthews played 3rd base for the Braves as they were stationed in Boston, Milwaukee and then Atlanta from 1952 through 1966.  After a partial year in Houston, he finished up with the Tigers in 1968.

17. Arrange ahead of time : SET UP.

18. Irish actor Stephen : REA.   Best actor nominee for his performance in The Crying Game, and has been in many more films and TV series.

Source

19. Jeans accent : RIVET.

Bluejeans Characteristic

23. Magazine fig. : CIRC.  The abbrv'd figure is CIRCulation.

25. Easily led sorts : SHEEP.   Figuratively speaking.  We keep venturing dangerously close to politics.

Wouldn't be prudent

26. Seminary subj. : REL.  And now RELigion!  What did I do to deserve this?

27. Kerfuffles : HOOHAS.   Altercations, brouhahas, etc. This word also has other definitions, which you may discuss amongst yourselves.

29. Easily roused crowd : RABBLE.  Sheep with teeth and claws?

32. Single : UNWED.  Once wed, you are double, I suppose.

33. Highest North American peak, to natives : DENALI.   And to everybody, now.  [Well, almost] Formerly Mt. McKinley, so named in 1896 by a gold prospector who supported the then presidential candidate. This was made official by President Wilson in 1917.  To be clear, pretty much everyone in Alaska has always called it by the Athabascan name, meaning great one.  The Alaska Board of Geograhic Names changed it back to DENALI in 1975, and has been petitioning the Federal government to follow suit ever since..  It is located in a national park that has been named DENALI since 1980.  {Reference}

41. Not quite boil : SIMMER.  If you can't stand the heat  .  .  .

42. Grammar class subject : TENSE.  A verb characteristic expressing a time reference; Frex., past, present or future.   Once in grammar class the teacher asked me, "What tense would it be if you said, 'I have money?'"  My answer was, "Pretense."

43. Slide subject : AMOEBA.  Tiny critter on a microscope slide.  This has nothing to do with baseball, nor trombones.  I hope.

46. Common motel prohibition : NO PETS.   This refers to your animal friends, and presumably does not extend to physical contact.

47. Turned on : LIT.  As a light bulb.

48. With no affection : ICILY.  As, for example, when encountering one's ex.

52. Corp. bigwigs : CEOS. Chief Executive OfficerS.

57. First name on a 1945 bomber : ENOLA Gay.  Delivered a nuke.

58. SoCal team, on scoreboards : LAA.  Los Angeles Angels.  Long shot for a wild card this year.

59. Athenian with harsh laws : DRACO.  In the 7th century B. C. he replaced oral laws that could be arbitrarily applied and interpreted with a written constitution that was publicly displayed.  These laws led to the death penalty for even minor offenses, and were more lenient to the upper classes.

62. Race with batons : RELAY.  The baton is passed from runner to runner on a team, at set distance intervals.

63. Clean one's plate : EAT.   Figuratively,  except for the Sprats, of course. 

64. Respected church member : ELDER.

65. Deuce beaters : TREYS.  Twos and threes in a deck of cards.

67. Pitcher's arm, say : ASSET.  But only if he can get a grip.  

Down

1. U.S. Army cops :. Military Police (plural S.)

2. Encl. with a manuscript : SAE.  Self Addressed Envelope.

3. Type of ale : NUT BROWN.  

Not a rave review

5. Nightclub of song : COPA.  A Barry Manilow song that I will not link.

6. Brooks of C&W : GARTH.   A County singer who I will not link.

7. Daisy variety : OX EYE.  So prolific it is now considered to be a noxious weed.

Bad Chrysanthemum?

8. Flower child's parting word : PEACE.  

Is that an ox eye daisy?

9. Swiss capital : BERN.   Neither Francs nor Euros; instead the capital city.

10. Revise text : EDIT.

11. Sooner or later : ADVERB.  Self-referential clue.

12. Semi-filling liquid : DIESEL.  Fuel for semi tractor trailer rigs, not light beer.

13. Come to terms : SETTLE.   Reach an agreement.

21. Pearl Harbor's __ Arizona Memorial : USS.  United States Ship, a prefix applied to a commissioned ship of the U. S. Navy.  This is only used during the time that the ship is commissioned. 

22. Personality with an online book club : OPRAH.   Winfrey (b. January 29, 1954.)

23. Carp family fish : CHUB.  A common fish name applied to a variety of families and genera.

24. Prefix with sphere : IONO-.   The upper region of the atmosphere, from about 40 to over 600 miles of altitude, where the molecules of the atmosphere are ionized by solar radiation and cosmic rays.

28. Go off-script : AD LIB.

30. 2005 Bush Supreme Court nominee : ALITO.  Samuel (b. April 1, 1950)

33. Mil. award : DSM.  Distinguished Service Medal.   British, awarded from 1914 to 1993.

34. L.A.-to-Tucson dir. : ESE.  East-SouthEast.

35. ATM giant : NCR.  National Cash Register.

37. Phishing medium : EMAIL.

38. Rollerblading safety gear : KNEE PADS.  So they don't get skinned.

Protective armor

39. José's "this" : ESTO.   Spanish.

40. Loch near Inverness : NESS.   Scottish Lake with a mythical monster.

43. Angels' slugger Pujols : ALBERT.  He was more of a slugger, and hit for higher average with the Cardinals from 2001 through 2011.   Things fell off dramatically when he changed uniforms in 2012. This year the HR's are back on track, but the average is still slipping.

Baseball coverage

44. Martin of "Adam-12" : MILNER.  Sadly, passed away on Monday.

"I was never a celebrity"

45. "Lawrence of Arabia" Oscar nominee : O'TOOLE.   Irish stage and screen actor ((2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) 

Holds the record for most Oscar nominations without a win

46. 1785-'90 U.S. capital : NYC.  New York City.

49. Star : CELEBrity.  O'Toole, not Milner.

50. Newton associated with apples, not figs : ISAAC.  (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726)  English physicist and mathematician.  Very clever clue, too.  

51. Exams for future J.D.s : LSATS.  Law School Admission TestS.

54. Nivea rival : OLAY.   Skin care products.

55. Diary pages : DAYS.   

56. Old Greek theaters : ODEA.  Plural of ODEON.  Ancient Greek or Roman structures used for performances in singing, poetry, and theater.   I imagine some of the performances were odious.

60. Average grade : CEE.  Spelt out letter name.

61. Food scrap : ORT.  From Middle English, with cognates in German and Dutch; evidently derived from ǣt, Old English for food. 

Well, that wraps it up for today.  Lots of themeage, and some clever cluing but also a lot of 3-letter verticals, many of which were abbrvs.  There's always a trade-off.  And thus end my blog comments.

Big Cool Regards!
Jz[&C]B

Saturday, Jun 6th, 2015, Pawel Fludzinski

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing Q,X,Z)

Blocks: 32

  I was about to throw in the towel on this one, as the north refused to turn any color other than white....so I cheated; I changed to red-letter and discovered I had the wrong "Arabic word".  Figures.  But it at least gave me a chance to rethink the NE, and then it was a matter of Wild-Ass Guessing to get the NW to cooperate.  All in all, I thought the puzzle was a good challenge, though the proper names did throw a bit of a fun sponge into the mix.  I finished at exactly my personal allotted time, too.  Paired 9- and 10-letter corners, and two 11-letter spanners;

33. Quadrennial winter event since 1976 : PARALYMPICS - made me change some DOWN answers when "-LYMPICS" seemed more logical; more from the Wiki

40. Metaphorical target of a fruitless pursuit : SHINY OBJECT - the more I looked, the more it seems this is less of a "pursuit" and more of distraction; the reference is more like the phrase "curiosity killed the cat"; see the psychology here

o-n-
       Ooooh~!  Shiny~!

ACROSS:

1. "... and hid his face __ a crowd of stars": Yeats : AMID - starting off with a relatively vague quotation seems cruel and unusual

5. Farrier's tool : RASP - I know what a farrier does, but anvil and hammer didn't fit; SNIP did, tho

9. Word derived from the Aramaic for "my father" : ABBOT - dah~!  I figured it might be RABBI - and the "BB"s were right, but only one in the correct location - what is that, 20% or 40%, D-Otto~?

14. Whirl : PIROUETTE - thankfully, the letters the perps filled in made the spelling of this easier - I had --R-UE--E

16. Place, as cloth before surgery : DRAPE - I did consider this at first, but this is a really round-about clue for a 5-letter word

17. Talk big : BLOW SMOKE

18. Zealand natives : DANES - I tried MAORI

19. "Candy-colored clown" in Roy Orbison's "In Dreams," with "the" : SANDMAN

20. Butler, e.g. : SERVANT - the household position - not the character from Gone With The Wind

22. Cézanne's "Boy in __ Vest" : A RED - um, sure, OK

24. Isn't quite neutral : LEANS - different from yesterday's definition

25. Business : AFFAIR

29. Manchego sources : EWES - I was 100% positive about "WIRY", so this made for a sensible WAG

31. Copacetic : A-OK

35. "Piano is not my forte," e.g. : PUN - har-har

36. Orgs. with class issues? : PTAs

37. Command ender : EER - commandeer

38. Meter starter : PERI - I had PEDO-, and that was definitely 50% right; perimeter

39. Wi-Fi relative : LAN

44. Wapiti : ELK - knew this from doing crosswords

45. Dick Grayson, to Bruce Wayne : WARD - I grew up with the 60's campy version, but I did like the re-makes with Christian Bale; well, the first two

46. Sites of some runners : AISLES - I did consider SLEIGHS, but it didn't fit

47. Goaded, with "on" : EGGED - had it, changed it to URged, changed it back

49. '60s-'70s Japanese leader : SATO - perps

51. Prepare for baking : PRE-HEAT

53. Jeopardize : IMPERIL

58. Nirvana attainer : ARHAT - straight up definition; new word to me

59. Ace : HOLE-IN-ONE

61. Blue books? : PORNO - if this is the case, I like my entertainment to be "navy"

62. Opening numbers? : AREA CODES - very good; should have figured it out sooner

63. Indo-__ languages : ARYAN

64. Pastoral poem : IDYL

65. Indianapolis-to-Springfield direction : WEST - were you shocked to see FOUR letters in the answer~?  Narrowed down the choices, tho

DOWN:       

1. They may include yrs. and models : APBs - took too long to make the connection, but I was thinking about cars.  An "All Points Bulletin" - although I think a "BOLO" is more appropriate - "Be On the Look Out for a 2000 Dodge Status, license plate XYZ-1234~!"

2. "__ 18": Uris novel : MILA - I have seen this before, but my head was stuck on "Stalag 17" - both are stories of people and their Nazi Germany foes

3. Food Network's "__ Chef America" : IRON

4. Columnist Maureen : DOWD - 50% perps, 50% WAG

5. Emulate Liz Taylor ... regularly : REMARRY - Ironic that DIVORCE fit, too

6. Square things : ATONE - ah, the verb, not the adjective

7. NASDAQ unit : STK - meh.

8. Pepper trio? : PEES - PePPer

9. Deal with : ADDRESS

10. Price support? : BRAVA - the only thing that makes sense is this person; "BRAVO~!" for females

11. Stereotypical slipper? : BANANA PEEL

12. Like some software : OPEN SOURCE

13. Measuring device : TEST

15. FedEx competitor : US MAIL - OK, I did a UPS shout-out last week

21. What a conductor may conduct: Abbr. : ELECtricity - I wanted "ORCH"

23. "We'll see" : DEPENDS

25. Brandy flavor : APPLE

26. A virus may cause one : FATAL ERROR - in the world of computers

27. Walt Disney Concert Hall architect : FRANK GEHRY - I am familiar with this name, so the spelling did not bother me

28. Small power sources : AAs - batteries

30. Like an Irish wolfhound's coat : WIRY

32. Furrows : KNITS - think eyebrows

34. Israel's Iron Lady : MEIR

38. Retirement outfit? : PJs - good clue; I was in "IRA" mode

40. Smitten with : SWEET ON - I am still smitten by the blue-eyed girl; some day....

41. Words with baby or bad day : HAD A - I regularly have the "bad day" version - hopefully the "baby" part is in my future

42. Breakfast choice : OATMEAL

43. "Ed Wood," e.g. : BIOPIC

48. Kofi Annan's birthplace : GHANA

50. 1976 Spingarn Medal recipient : AILEY - never heard of this award, nor this person

51. Literary sobriquet : PAPA - that author dude, uh, what's his name, Ernest

52. Golden Triangle native : THAI

54. "There are liars ... __ to beat the honest men": "Macbeth" : ENOW - poetic "enough"

55. Tormented : RODE

56. Supermodel Sastre : INÉS - hey, two birds with one stone - her image and her legs - or is that one bird with two stones~?

Inés Sastre

ooh~! shiny~!

57. "__ we forget" : LEST

60. Chicago airport code : ORD - O'Hare, which was originally Orchard Field Airport; now I can see where they get code

Splynter

Saturday, Dec 13th, 2014, Pawel Fludzinski and Michael S. Maurer

Theme: None

Words: 64 (missing J,Q,Z)

Blocks: 33

  A new duo for our Saturday solving strife, and a mouthful to pronounce, to boot~!  A big chunky grid with only four - count 'em - FOUR three-letter words.  Nice.  Argyle handled Pawel's last LAT puzzle back on July 29th, and I did not see Michael's name in the blog archives, so I'm guessing this is his debut.  Technically, triple 9-letter corners, but not on the grid edge, but I'm not being picky.  A little over the half-way mark in my personal time - but one bad cell, and I should have known better.  To change it up, here's the big three-letter words for the day;

21a. Beehive State native : UTE - the Beehive state being Utah, and therefore....

46a. Matinée idol Johnson : VAN - I never heard of him, and I see he was "The Minstrel" in the Batman TV series of the 60's - about the only place I would have seen him, and I don't recall the character at all

16. Deodorant product word : DRI - like this

48. CCCI quintupled : MDV - my math skills are suffering from the six-day worknights at UPS - first I multiplied by 3, and that gave me CMIII, and that didn't fit - oops, I meant 4X - nope, that's MCCIV - dah~! FIVE times~!

ACROSS:

1. "The __ the facts, the stronger the opinion": Arnold H. Glasow : FEWER

6. Bois __: tree once used to make bows : D'ARC - The irony is that this reappears at 12d. - more here

10. Simple race of fiction : ELOI - Saturday cluing for a crossword staple

14. Words from one who doesn't see : I'M OUT - "see" as in poker; "I'll 'see' your twenty, and raise you ten"

15. Wear tails to tea, say : OVERDRESS

17. __ diem : CARPE

18. Cutting : SATIRICAL

19. Egyptian life symbols : ANKHs

20. It was spawned by the Manhattan Project : ATOMIC AGE

22. It may precede a stunt : DARE - Tis the season for a "triple DOG dare"

23. Lover of Aphrodite : ARES

24. Polo and others : TEAM SPORTS - um, well, yeah, that's one example

27. Some rats : ALBINOS

28. Surprise : STARTLE

34. Super Bowl party array : SALSAS

35. Jack feature, perhaps : ONE-EYE - anyone else caught up in thinking about car jacks?

36. Gives special treatment to : EXEMPTS

38. Use to one's advantage : TRADE ON

39. Ironically, Samantha Bond portrayed her in several films : MONEYPENNY - I'm OK with the new girl playing Moneypenny, but I am very happy that Ralph Fiennes replaced Judy Dench as the new "M".   New movie, Spectre~!   Gratuitous Bond image

41. Suffers : AILS

45. "Up and __!" : AT 'EM

47. Titanic, e.g. : STEAM SHIP

49. Sister of Goneril : REGAN

51. On-site trial : FIELD TEST

52. Acid used in soap : OLEIC

53. About to cover old ground? : IN REVERSE - har-har

54. Trunk : TORSO

55. Soviet news acronym : TASS - ITAR or TASS~?  I figured at the bottom of the grid, the two "S"s worked better

56. Vibrating instrument piece : REED

57. Recesses : APSES - NAVES or APSES~? Again, at the bottom of the grid, the "P" worked better than the "V"

DOWN:

1. Pay stub letters : FICA

2. Pianist who often collaborates with Yo-Yo Ma : EMANUEL AX - cool name - his Wiki

3. Craftsman's item : WORK TABLE - I went with work BENCH, which makes sense to me - but then again, I'm a carpenter, so....

4. Softener of a kind : EUPHEMISM - like 'negative patient outcome' for 'dead.'

5. GPS data : RTEs

6. Back to back, in Bordeaux : DOS-à-DOS

7. Personification : AVATAR - like our little pics on the blog

8. Sass : RETORTS - the singular/plural threw me

9. Many a piece of pulp fiction : CRIME STORY

10. Author Jong : ERICA

11. '70s-'80s Rabbit competitor : Le CAR

12. __ orange : OSAGE - I had ELOI, then changed it when I thought this was "AGENT"

13. Man and others : ISLES - did not fool me, but then again, I had the "I" and last "S" in place

24. Zap : TASE - WAG

25. Pop partner : SNAP - and don't forget the third guy, Crackle

26. Letter man : POSTMASTER

29. Words after grab or take : A NAP - I had "IT UP"

30. Convert to condos, say : RE-DEVELOP

31. Romeo and Juliet, for two : TEENAGERS

32. Cooked with onions : LYONNAISE - Frawnche, "from Lyon", because Saaaaute-e-e-e wasn't working

33. Selection process word : EENY - meeny, miney, moe

37. "Take that!" : "SO THERE~!"

38. Like a diner eying a dessert tray : TEMPTED

40. German/Polish border river : NEISSE

41. Equally buff : AS FIT

42. Rock memoir : I, TINA - learned from doing crosswords

43. Hardly good looks : LEERS

44. __ resistance : SALES - meh

49. "The Godfather" composer : ROTA

50. Some PX patrons : NCOs

Splynter

Note from C.C.:

Here are two fun pictures from Lemonade. He was about 35 or 36 in the first picture. Thick mop of hair! Look who's on the most right?

Me, my ex-wife, my mother, my brother, his girl friend and Joe DiMaggio

 Lemonade and his girlfriend

They're getting married in 2 weeks! Please click here for a few more fun pictures of Charlotte.